The Smallest of Choices
by hjue44
Summary: A story about many aspects of life, where even the most basic decisions can have the most problematic outcomes. It circles around Amy, Sonic and Tails who need to work out their lives with the help of their friends, if only these were at least close to normal and with less... inconvenience. Disclaimer: The majority of the characters is owned by SEGA, credit goes to them.
1. Chapter 1

What had happened? After all that they had been through together, the ending had never been imagined to be like this. That it would go down the way things did could not have been expected. And yet, the injured fox lay there, in between the rubble and ruins of what had been their home. The shadowy figure in front of him slowly moved closer, but could not be identified through the wall of smoke. The stones crunched with every step, and even though he knew it was coming for him now, too, he couldn't move. His tear-stained eyes tried to make out what it was, but he couldn't see. He tried to move a bit, not wanting to get snapped out like the others were, but his body would not comply. Everything hurt, his vision was blurred, the ears rang and he felt his blood on his face. In his numbness, he tried to focus for the last time, needing to see what caused their demise, but still, the only thing he knew was that the crunches got louder.

Finally, the figure stood right in front of him, and he moved his head to look up. Only a shadow, then darkness. next thing he saw was three lights gleaming in the distance, then noise, then more darkness. Next was a voice without words, as nothing it said was even close to being audible. It was just there until it faded. He glimpsed again, a purple light and then…

"Those eyes!" Amy shouted. She was running towards a small kitten which was roaming through her garden, but just as she got close to it, the kitten quickly hid between the roses, making it impossible to reach it. There, it sat down and stared at Amy, who had knelt down to look at it through the leaves.

"Just be careful not to get stung by the thorns, sweetie!" she said before standing up and going back to work. Just a few minutes later a blue streak rushed through her garden until it came to a stop just next to her. "Hey Amy, what ya doing?" she looked up to see Sonic leaning against the wall with a grin on his face. "Just some garden work. You know, the usual, cutting dead leaves, watering the flowers,…"

"I see, Tails and I planned to head out to the beach this afternoon, wanna come?" Of course, she did, but due to the current heat wave and the dryness that came with it, she couldn't leave her work behind. She had hoped that Sonic would ask her out on a trip for quite a while now, so saying no was rather difficult for her. "You know, I'd really like to, but I can't. My flowers will die, so…" "And if I helped you?" Sonic had patiently waited for her answer and took a few steps towards her, but this patience was apparently over. Before she could respond, he picked a can and ran to the barrel with water. He quickly dunked the can into it and started watering the flowers for Amy, who stopped watching and continued cutting the small bush in front of her.

About 25 minutes later, the work was done and she got inside to pack all the things she needed for the trip. Sonic, who decided to wait outside, leaned against the wall just as he did when he arrived. Then, they left and Sonic called Tails while they walked down the streets of the suburbs, telling him that they would arrive soon.

The white lights disorientating him, the hedgehog's thoughts began to race. How did he get here? Where exactly was –here-? What was going on? He still couldn't see anything due to the lights, and no sound could be heard. He tried to move, and even though he knew he was moving, he couldn't feel it. Suddenly, everything went dark, but his vision still had a distinct tone of white in it. Still blind, he got on his feet and at least he could feel them touching the cold ground now. After what felt like eternity wandering the darkness, he heard a hissing noise just next to him, so he took a step in its direction. Immediately, he tripped and fell to the ground. He died then and there, breaking his neck in the process. An artificial voice filled the room –SUBJECT: JW42 FAILED. ACTIVATE: PROTOCOL 3. ENTER: SUBROUTINE CLEANSING 4. REBOOT IN PROGRESS. INITIALIZING: CASE 43-.

"That storm is looking pretty bad…" The fox had a worried look on his face as he saw the dark clouds in the far distance, feeling not so sure if their trip was going to work out the way they had planned. "Come on Tails, can't be that bad. It's a nice day, why wouldn't they let us down to the beach?" Sonic exclaimed. "You know, I think he might be right about that. We should probably turn around and find a place to stay. The last thing I want is to be out here when this storm arrives." Amy looked at Sonic, who looked at her and then turned to Tails. "Fine, you win. Let's go to my place, it's the closest." Sonic immediately turned around, looking a bit grumpy, as he had anticipated playing beach volleyball for hours. Amy and Tails followed, both wondering about the sudden change of weather these clouds on the horizon seemed to mark.

-SUBJECT: JW43 FAILED. ACTIVATE: PROTOCOL 3. ENTER: SUBROUTINE: CLEANSING 13. REBOOT IN PROGRESS. INITIALIZING: CASE 44-.

"Feel free to take anything from the fridge, I go fetch some snacks." Tails followed Sonic to the kitchen, leaving Amy alone by the door to Sonic's apartment. It was nice here and rather cheap, she would have taken it herself if she didn't own her house in the suburbs. Even though Sonic never really thanked her for making sure he got it, she knew he was happy with this apartment. Park nearby, nice view, plenty of space, just his thing. She walked into the living room and sat on the couch. Shortly after, Tails returned with a soda in his hand and sat next to her, opening the bottle and taking a sip. As soon as Sonic entered the room, he put a bowl with various snacks on the small table and the entire room went white for a split second, immediately followed by extremely loud thunder that seemed to shake the building.

Sonic's ears had fallen down, and he looked rather shocked. "Scared of storms, are we?" Amy mocked him, and his ears went up again. "Nah, just got jumped by it, didn't really expect that. Guess you two were right about the storm." Tails nodded and took another sip from his bottle. Another lightning bathed the room in light, followed by an even louder thunder to shake the building again.

"How can sound even cause these vibrations?" Tails wondered aloud. Sonic just shrugged and looked at Amy, who indicated that she didn't know either. Silence followed until the next thunder roared. "So,.. you guys wanna watch a movie? I don't wanna stand here all day doing nothin." "Sure, why not? You got that new Tommy Th…" Tails was cut off by the lights turning off after another lightning illuminated the sky, immediately followed by complete darkness. The thunder roared again as Sonic turned around to look out the window. Most of this side of the room was one big window, and as he gazed over the city, usually illuminated in various colors by thousands of different lights, he found it to be dark.

"Great, seems like electricity went down in the entire city. So much for the TV. Other ideas?" "First, we should have a little more light." Tails said as he stood up and opened his bag. He pulled out a flashlight and turned it on. Sonic crossed his arms and leaned back a bit, giving him a questioning look. "Tails, why would you bring a flashlight to the beach?" he asked. "You never know, right?" the fox replied and sat down again. Sonic, now able to see properly, walked to a cupboard in the corner, opened it and lightened a candle. Back to the question of what to do now, they all thought for a second until Amy spoke up. "How about board games?" "More like bore-games, Ames." She looked at Sonic in disappointment. "That was bad. Even for you." "What is that supposed to mean now?" "Nothing, nothing at all.." Tails grinned and watched them arguing and mocking each other, Amy even standing up and moving a few steps towards him, placing her finger on his chest to underline her statements, as the first raindrops began to hit the glass heavily. With the rain pouring and occasionally lightning and thunder filling the room with light and sound, he interrupted them. "Hey, how about we go to the kitchen? It should be less noisy there:" The two hedgehogs turned their heads and agreed, Amy grabbed the snacks and so they moved to the kitchen.

For a while they just talked, telling each other what they were up to for the past weeks. Amy told them about how she had planted a whole set of new flowers because the summer heat had caused many to dry out and that she was now thinking about opening a small business selling flowers and plants of all kinds. Tails reported that he had been working on a new invention, but wouldn't say what it was. Sonic just listened and commented that it was just the usual. Going to work, taking walks in the afternoon, relaxing.

"Hey, is it me or is the storm getting a bit more calm?" Sonic had just stood up and looked through the small kitchen window. Tails jumped off his chair to take a look, too but was interrupted when his phone rang. "You have one of those smartphones?" Amy asked surprised by the fact since they all said that they didn't like them when they were released to the market last year. "Built it myself" the fox shortly replied as he answered the phone. "Hello? Yes, it's me. Yeah, at Sonic's." A short pause followed with Tails looking more and more concerned. "What?!" Sonic and Amy gave each other a confused look. "Yeah, right away. See you soon, bye." Tails lowered the phone from his ear, sliding it into his pocket. "Guys, I have to leave now. My garage has a leak and is now flooded." He turned on the flashlight, left the kitchen and approached the door. "Hopefully the storm has calmed down." He muttered while he put his shoes on. Sonic and Amy entered the living room and wished him luck as he left, leaving them alone in the dark. "Should've brought the candle…"Sonic muttered as they both made their way back to the kitchen.

The white lights disorientating him, the hedgehog's thoughts began to race. How did he get here? Where exactly was –here-? What was going on? He still couldn't see anything due to the lights, and no sound could be heard. He tried to move, and even though he knew he was moving, he couldn't feel it. Suddenly, everything went dark, but his vision still had a distinct tone of white in it. Still blind, he got on his feet and at least he could feel them touching the cold ground now. After what felt like eternity wandering the darkness, the lights were finally turned on, revealing a white room which walls were not visible from his position. All he could see was the white nothingness of this seemingly eternal room. He looked around several times without seeing anything else, making him panic. "What the hell is going on?" he whispered to himself, insecurity filled his voice. Suddenly, a hissing noise appeared just next to him.


	2. Chapter 2

He took a step back and looked at a small pedestrial moving up from the ground, on it a pair of shoes and a short sword. -TAKE THEM- A loud voice echoed, and so he did. -PUT THEM ON- it demanded, and he hesitantly did. -THESE SHOES ARE EQUIPPED WITH A BOOST, ENHANCING YOUR SPEED GREATLY- -TO ACTIVATE THEM SIMPLY RUN, THEY BOOST YOU ONCE YOU HAVE REACHED YOUR OWN LIMIT-

The voice went silent again and nothing seemed to happen. He just stood there, wearing thee odd shoes and staring at the sword on the pedestrial. Was he supposed to take it? Should he try the shoes first and just run now? He reached for the sword and lifted it carefully. It was lighter than he had expected and lay unbelievably good in is hand. He swung it a few times and then looked around again. Nothing as far as he could see, only the white floor and ceiling. He began walking, finding the shoes to be comfortable. He wondered how fast he could go with these on, but just as he began to pick up the pace, the voice filled the room again.

-PREPARATION COMPLETE. INITIALIZING: PROTOCOL T1SEQUENCE 1-

The ground suddenly became covered with black squares and the hissing sound was back, only this time with many of them to be heard at once. He stared at white robots coming out of the ground but found them to be dormant. Slowly approaching the closest robot to him, he risked taking a closer look. The robot was black with only the white sockets for arms and legs being an exception. The head was a small cube, making it look very out of place on the human-like structure the body had.

Suddenly, a white line appeared on the cube, with one dot on it. After going left and right a few times, it fixed just in front of the hedgehog, who took two steps back. But nothing else seemed to happen. Next, he noticed that every robot now had the line with the dot on the head, and all were looking at him. At least he thought that the dot was what they were seeing with since there was no indication of anything else that would resemble eyes.

Just as he relaxed a little and wanted to observe the robots a little more, they all raised an arm which opened in the process, revealing a short barrel inside. He stared at the arm, then at the robots face, just to see the line turn red. He turned around and started running. The guns went off, the bullets raced next to and above him. The shoes activated, and he fell to the ground immediately. He jumped back on his feet, amazed that he hadn't been hit yet. The loud gunshots continued, and he ran again until the shoes activated. This time he paid attention to them, seeing why he fell before but the short moment of euphoria from this mental success was cut short when his other foot was boosted forward, making his entire leg fly up and sending him falling on his back. He screamed in pain, got back up and tried a third time. The bullets around him and the robot squad that was closing in on him didn't seem to matter. This time, he concentrated on keeping his balance and when the boost was activated, he started to do a skating move with his feet, moving faster every second. Only when he had put miles between himself and the robots he remembered that he had been chased by robots and wondered about just how bad their aim had to be since he was still alive after what had just happened.

He looked down at the white shoes, then back into the distance where he could see the robots closing in. Should he run again? He figured that there had to be an ending to this white desolation. Or should he fight? He raised the sword, loosened his grip on it to admire the fine work that was put into it. The blade, slightly curved and pointy at the top, was only three quarters the length of his arm, but still felt light in his hand, just as it had when he had first taken it. He looked over his shoulder, but the room just seemed to continue. The stomping noise from the robots got louder as he clutched his fist around the hilt of the sword. Then, he sprinted towards them, gaining speed with every step. Soon, they turned into skating on the shoes, and the robots began to shoot at him again.

He threw himself down, sliding on the ground feetfirst into the first robot. As he got close enough, the sword slashed through the robot's torso, cutting it in half. Still on the ground, he looked back and smiled, but then his sword was shot out of his hand. The other robots had targeted him now that he had slowed down a little bit and tried to surround him. Quickly rolling sideways, he grabbed his sword again and got back on his feet. He lashed out at another robot, damaging it in the process. The next one had its arm sliced off, a third was cut in half. He even began to enjoy this fight, until he finally got hit by one.

The pain surged through his body and he could feel the blood on his back. He stumbled forward, tried to hit another bot, but he just collapsed when he tried to swing the sword. He lay there, all he could see were the robot feet until he saw a big black square about ten meters in front of him.

–SUBJECT: JW44 FAILED. ACTIVATE: PROTOCOL 3. ENTER: SUBROUTINE CLEANSING 1. REBOOT IN PROGRESS. INITIALIZING: CASE 45-

Next thing he knew was that he was carried through a dark hallway. He quickly realized that the ones carrying him were robots, but these were red and black, but the same shape as the white ones he had just encountered. He could also hear a roaring noise but didn't know what it was. The robots carried him through a door and the noise became unbearably loud. Then, he saw what it was. Two rolls of steel with spikes and edges on them were rotating in a large box, stained with a red fluid and drenched with a horrible smell. He knew it had to be blood, and there was no doubt that soon it would be his blood. His inner eye showed him how his flesh was torn apart by the spikes and edges as his bones got crushed in the machine. His organs would be pressed out to whichever side of him was last to be sucked into this thing, only to be shredded a mere second later.

Terrified, he started to move and was dropped by the robots. Apparently, they had thought he was dead, given how startled they were and how easy this escape was. He rolled on the floor to escape their grasp before he got up, finding himself in the hallway. With no time to think, he just ran and slammed the first door wide open that gave him a lesser bad feeling in his gut.

This room was pitch black, only slightly illuminated a few meters in by the dim light from the hallway but he still went in. After a few steps, he stopped dead. Wind! He followed the sensation until he saw a small line of light in front of him. As he got close, he fell to the ground, having stumbled over a few stairs leading up to what was hopefully a door. But when the door to the hallway fell shut, the light disappeared, but free red dots had appeared on the door, along with his own reflection. Then, he heard a humming noise getting closer and when he turned around he was hit by what had to be another robot. It crashed with him through the window that he had mistaken for a door, with glass cutting and stabbing him in the back. Now out in the dark of the night, he could at least see something thanks for the moonlight.

This something was, in fact, a bunch of trees far below him and the flying robot, that had him on top of it. They turned around, and he had to make a decision. He jumped off of the robot, which was irritated by the unsuspected action its captive took. It flew down, catching him by his feet with a pair of claws to prevent this from happening again. But he didn't give up that easily. He pushed his upper body up and punched the robot multiple times on one of its wings, causing it to lose height. Just before they would crash, he punched it on what he identified as its circuit panel which destroyed the bot, making the claws release his legs. He pushed the robot away from himself and braced for the impact. The robot fell into pieces while he simply rolled a few meters. He came to a halt, face to the sky when he saw about five black dots coming from a huge facility on a mountain. Obviously, these were more robots to catch him, so he began to run again.

He came to a stop on a hilltop, revealing a large city in front of him. No lights were visible, but he had no time to wonder about it as he was grabbed again by a robot. He immediately punched the circuit panel, but unlike last time, the robot just malfunctioned, carrying him down the hill to the city. Afraid of falling now, he stopped moving and hoped he would have a safe landing. It was one thing to jump from high up into some trees and hope for the best, but another to jump to certain death. The other robots seemed to have taken notice of his daring and rather unintentional way of fleeing the scene and started to pursue them, while his robot flew across the first smaller buildings, heading straight for the taller ones and skyscrapers downtown. The first shots were fired, as he finally crashed through a big window. This time the robot protected him from the glass, but he bumped into several things before hitting a couch which was knocked over. He then hit the wall and fell unconscious, entirely exhausted from the escape and the injuries, but the other robots were closing in, ready to catch him.


	3. Chapter 3

„Ouch, what on earth.." Sonic just got out from under his couch when he spotted the robots flying towards him. „Really? Over a year with no sign of him and now he just launches a full attack on me. Great. Just great." He entered a fighting stance, standing wide awake and ready to fight. The first robot flew slowly through his window and was immediately destroyed. The next two now shot at him, and after dodging a few bullets he made a backflip behind his couch. Amy walked around the corner, rubbing her eye. "Sonic, could you turn the TV d.." A bullet hit the wall just next to her face and she threw herself back. She then spotted Sonic, who was pinned down behind his couch, who finally took notice of her. Sonic gave her a worried look, as two robots started shooting at the couch again with the third slowly making its way around the last stand of the blue hedgehog. Amy saw this and signaled Sonic the direction the two robots shooting at him were in. He nodded and got ready for a quick strike, while Amy thought about how she would get the one that was approaching Sonic. Then, she raised three fingers and started counting down with them. Once she closed her fist, Sonic jumped over the couch and dashed at the two sentries, which went down immediately. Amy ran towards the last bot which had turned around to see where its target had gone. She grabbed it by its wings, threw it towards Sonic who continued to destroy the last robot.

"Nice move, Ames, thank you." "You're welcome. So what was all that about? The doctor hasn't shown any sign of him in almost two years." She looked around to see how destroyed the living room was. "No idea, but he owes me a new TV." Sonic looked at the shattered screen on the ground, then, his gaze wandered across the couch, which was covered with bullet holes with many pieces of cloth hanging lose all over it. The wall behind it had even more holes in it, and between the concrete rubble, pieces and splinters from the small table and some pillows Sonic just had slept on mixed with robot parts, he spotted an arm, then a leg. Amy had also recognized the body parts and rushed towards the small pile. She turned over the first pieces of wood when Sonic joined her. They quickly uncovered a relatively young hedgehog with grey fur and short quills who was covered in blood. Sonic and Amy looked at each other and both nodded. He picked him up and rushed out of the door while Amy got the phone from the kitchen and called the hospital. "Hello, it's Amy. Yeah, hurt really bad, lost lots of blood. No need for that, already on his way. Thank you." She hung up again, glad that she got lucky when Tikal answered. They had been friends since Amy herself had been in the hospital after a shootout downtown. Tikal knew what was up when Amy called, especially when it was in the middle of the night, sparing her long explanations.

Soon after Sonic arrived at the hospital where he was greeted by a small team of doctors and nurses with a mobile bed in the hallway. He lay down the hedgehog and the team quickly made for a room. Sonic turned around to see Tikal who greeted him. "Hey! How are you?" "Fine, just got up too quick." He smiled awkwardly while scratching his back, just to find his hand now covered in blood. "You know, you could use a shower. Just glad the electricity is back on, otherwise we couldn't help that guy. You know him?" For the first time, Sonic realized that the lights were on. He even remembered the streetlights on his way but didn't really notice them. "No, never seen him before. He just crashed through my window with a bunch of robots after him." "Sounds just like a normal day for you. You should get back home now and take that shower. Red is not your color." Sonic waved goodbye as he went outside again, heading back to his flat.

"You're back!" Amy ran towards him and tried to hug him, before stopping dead. "How about you go take a shower and then I give you the victory hug?" "Yeah, I was told I needed one now." He walked into the bathroom and Amy continued to clean up a bit. The cold wind filled the living room since the entire windowside was now open. She wondered how the warm summer nights could be so cold now and thought that she should move everything away from the former windowside. She looked around but found everything that had stood there before to be either destroyed or, in case of the cupboard Sonic took the candle from earlier, to be big and heavy enough to be safe to remain on its spot.

When Sonic came out of the bathroom, he saw her on the ground putting the rubble in a bucket and himself shaking from the sudden cold. "Ames, you don't have to do that now, come on, let's get into the kitchen, it should be warmer there." She looked up to him and got on her feet, took his hand and pulled him with her. "What's the matter? Why are you pulling me around?" As soon as they had entered the kitchen, she turned around and Sonic saw that she was almost crying. "I am just glad we're all fine, you know? Imagine what could have happened, had I not noticed what was going on and entered the room, or what if you hadn't been that lucky? How did you even notice them coming to get behind cover? What if…" She broke down in tears, but Sonic held her up. "Hey, it's alright. Yes, I got lucky. I think it was the guy who crashed through the window who knocked me and the couch over, but all that matters is that we're fine." "But what if the couch hadn't been knocked over, these things would've shot you in your sleep. And what if I hadn't got up to complain about your TV, I wouldn't have even noticed that you had been lying dead just a few meters away!" Amy had lost it completely now, clinging to Sonic and hugging him tightly. Her voice was high pitched and interrupted by sniffing and heavy breathing, but he knew exactly what she was talking about.

Sonic understood every word far better than he would let anybody know. Many times he had thought about what could have gone wrong, and many times he was frightened by the thought of the consequences. He got her in a hospital once, and at one point almost failed to save a group of children from a tank. He spent weeks thinking the -what if he hadn't saved the day-? Families would have been torn apart, lives would have been lost. Because he would have failed. And the worst part was that even if he tried to prevent these things, his friends would help, and he would need that help, but they would also be at risk. But what if he didn't try and take that risk? Who else would stop…

"Sonic?" Amy's glassy and tear-stained eyes stared at him while she still held him close. "Sorry Ames, zoned out for a sec there. Let's go to sleep again, we need that rest. Hope you don't mind me on the other side of the bed" He put up a sly grin and even Amy smiled a little bit. On their way to the bedroom, Sonic still saw how she was still upset and held her by the arm, which made her turn around. "Amy, don't let the what if bring you down. What happens is what counts in the end." Again, she gave him a weak smile and continued to walk through the door to the bedroom.

The couple that lived here before wanted their successor to take over the bedroom furniture, including the king-sized bed. Sonic had tried many times to remove it, but the mere comfort this bed provided had held him back over the past year. Now, the size was just what they needed as Amy lay down on the right side while he threw himself on the left one. "Goodnight, Sonic," Amy whispered as he turned off the lights. She didn't hear a response and figured that he had already fallen asleep. She guessed that he must be exhausted, but she couldn't think about sleeping now, as she was still far too upset to calm down. After a while, however, she almost jumped when she felt Sonic wrapping his arm around her. His slow breath on her neck, she noticed that he must still be asleep, and decided not to wake him up now and to just enjoy the unexpected company. Eventually, she fell asleep with him snuggled next to her.


	4. Fragment 1

A shining yellow emerald lay on the floor, surrounded by old ruins. Moss had grown all over the ancient stones which time had turned from solid to unstable. This didn't stop the metallic-blue robot from approaching the emerald, as this was the mission it had been sent on. Retrieve the stone, the doctor had said, and so he did. He had fought the ancient guardian who protected these cursed ruins, now the giant colossus lay shattered on one of the countless platforms. Fog was coming up, but he ignored it. He was superior in every way, nothing would ever stop him. Nothing bothered him, not the weather, not the fighting, not this fog, but the projectile racing towards him, piercing his hand and making the emerald drop on the ground again, that finally gained his attention.

The hedgehog-shaped robot was under attack, and he didn't like it. The fog made fighting back impossible, so he grabbed the emerald with his other hand and began to boost himself away. After half an hour he slowed down again, the fog long gone and the flat field he was now in making an attack on him going unnoticed impossible, he started to feel superior again. He was superior, right? He was told that. He looked back. His attacker had been superior over him, how could that be? He deleted the doubt, he had a mission. When he turned his head to face his direction, he caught a glimpse of a shadowy figure floating in the air, before he was cut by a wave of purple energy. He fell apart, the glowing red eye slowly fading out. The emerald rolled on the ground towards his destroyer, and one last thought raced through his circuits:

Superior


	5. Chapter 4

"May I present you the one-of-a-kind speed-amplifier!" Tails had pulled back the white cloth from the small metal box and entered a proud pose, pointing his hand towards it while taking a small bow. "Tails, why would I need a speed amplifier? Don't you think I am fast enough on my own, now am I?" Sonic crossed his arms and took a skeptical look at the box shining in the small ray of sunshine coming from the opened garage door. "How is this thing even supposed to work? As far as I can tell, it's just a box!" The fox was seemingly disappointed as he let his shoulders hang through. "Oh, it works just fine, and it's not the box. It is what the box does!" He had hoped for a better reaction from his blue friend this time but was quickly let down as the hedgehog still didn't look too convinced about the idea, so he tried again. "You just let it scan you, then it analyzes the data and calculates the best spot for the amplification. Basically, you get a short sting and then you should be much faster!" "Tails, every doctor out there knows where you can put syringes into your body. So besides the fact that I hate needles, why would you need a box to tell you that?" "Because you don't always have a doctor around!" "Fine, but still, why would I need to amplify my speed?" "Maybe it was not meant for you!"

Tails was almost screaming at this point and Sonic was taken aback. "I didn't mean to upset you, I am sorry." The fox calmed down a bit. "I just hoped for a better reaction. But it will work, just let me…" Tails had reached for the box, but it was gone. "Sonic!" "What? I didn't take it!" "Who else could have?" "Hell I know, Tails! It was just there and I didn't notice anything! Besides, how should I have taken it while we were talking?" "I know, I know, just…, where is it now?"

After searching the entire garage, the house and even around the house on the street, they gave up. When Sonic checked the living room again, he accidentally turned on the TV with the news currently broadcasted. The anchor was just starting a new topic and continued to speak.

"We just got reports about an unidentified object, described to look like a silver box, speeding through various cities along emerald coast. So far nobody has been hurt, but several buildings and houses have been damaged. Locals report it to be faster than the speed of sound since they only heard it after it had flown by, but other people say that it stops after a while and lays still before it continues to move again. We now turn to our reporter live on the scene, Adam.."

Sonic stopped listening and ran to find Tails, who was checking the garage again. "Hey, Tails, I found your box." He sprung up with a relieved smile. "Great! Where is it?" "Somewhere along the coast causing property damage." The casual sound of Sonic's voice delayed his reaction a bit before he realized what the rather calm hedgehog had just said to him. "Wait, what?!" "Just, go see the news, I'm better off trying to catch that thing before somebody is hurt." With that, Sonic left Tails behind and speeded through the city to the beach, where he turned north and left a blue streak along the seemingly endless beach.

Amy had also been watching the news and was wondering about what caused this thing to go off like this, and what purpose it had. When she returned her attention to the screen after taking her prepared lunch from the fridge, she saw a picture of Sonic with the box under his arm, doing his signature thumbs-up with a smile on his face. She began to eat and was relieved that this out-of-control box had been stopped.

Back at Tails' garage, Sonic put down the box, calling it the fastest toaster he had ever seen. Tails then knew what else to do with it, since it was not working as intended. He thanked Sonic for returning the Amplifier and asked him to leave because he wanted to start working on his new idea.

Sonic, now standing a little confused on the street on a nice Sunday, feeling the soft breeze on his nose and the sun shining on him thought about what to do next and decided to visit Amy. On his way, he tried to figure out what Tails had meant. What could he do with that thing, make an actual toaster out of it? Maybe the fastest toaster in the world if it speeds up the toasting." He took a turn and almost ran into a car. He dodged it but was now confronted with a construction site blocking the sidewalk. He crashed down a pit and landed in the dirt, just next to a worker.

"Hey, Sonic. What are you doing here?" Sonic, lying face-down in the mud, got on his knees and wiped the dirt from his face before looking up. "Oh, hey Bill. Just on my way to visit a friend. And you?" Bill helped him up and pointed to a ladder close by. "Well, what do you think? I am working! And there's your way back up." "Thanks, Bill." Sonic walked to the ladder and was already halfway up when Bill remembered something. "Hey, Sonic! Five times and I get a free meal from you, just one more now!" Sonic smirked and took the last steps. "Thanks for the reminder, Bill! Until next time!" With that, Sonic continued his way to Amy, covered in mud and telling himself to finally stop running into the same old construction site every time he came through.

This led to Amy opening the door looking at him in shock. "What happened to you?! You look like you jumped headfirst into a pit of mud!" Sonic laughed, making her look a little confused. "Ames, you have no idea how close to the truth that was. You don't mind me taking a shower before I tell you?" She nodded and let him enter her house. While he went straight for the bathroom, she looked for any dirt he might have left behind and continued cooking afterward. When Sonic returned, now with shiny blue fur again, Amy put plates on the table and asked him to sit down.

"Good timing, you just arrived for lunch." Sonic thanked her and while they ate, Amy thought about the last time they had met.

Two days ago, she had woken up in his bedroom, still with his arm around her. She slowly unwrapped herself and got up as silently as possible, leaving the room with him still being fast asleep. The cold wind from the giant hole in the living room wall made her shiver, so she moved into the kitchen and closed the door. After cooking coffee and leaving a plate with toast and egg behind for breakfast, she left the flat and went home. Eventually, Sonic called and thanked her for the breakfast, wishing her a nice day.

They hadn't spoken since, so his unexpected visit was a surprise for her. "So, how do you plan on fixing that hole in your wall?" she finally asked. Sonic gulped down the soup on his spoon to reply. "Well, I called a few people and it will be fixed next week. But it will take a while, and if the weather doesn't play along… Anyway, I have to clear the flat, so I moved some stuff over to Tails this morning." "Well, then you're probably the only one around who doesn't like the news." "What do you mean?" "They finally announced some rain for next week." Sonic looked at her in disbelief but also noticed her expression. "Let me guess, with –some rain- you mean a storm warning?" Amy nodded slowly, giving him a sorry look. "Great, for once I need the unbearable summer heat and then it's gone!" Sonic put down his spoon, fell back in his chair and crossed his arms with a sour expression. "Oh, come on. It's not that bad!" Amy tried to cheer him up but quickly realized that her efforts were of no use. "You know what the best part is?" Sonic finally said sarcastically. "Tails is on vacation in nine days, so if it takes longer I have no place to stay. Plus I'd have to move again."

Amy thought. Should she offer him to stay with her? She even wondered why he doesn't just ask at this point, as if it wasn't an option to him at all. "Why don't you just…" She paused but then continued her phrase "…stay here?" Sonic looked at her, obviously running through an inner conflict. "I mean, I could and there's not really an alternative, sooo… sure. Thanks for the offer." Then, they finished their meal in silence, barely looking at each other.


	6. Chapter 5

I decided to quit fanfiction for a while and move to other types of writing. I will also move to Quotev to get a fresh start, but if I decide to write Fanfiction, I will still upload them here.

Anyhow, I discovered this long chapter on my notebook and seeing it almost finished, I picked it up to upload it. I had almost forgotten that I even had this story ongoing and to be honest, I like it (not to brag here, I just enjoyed reading it again), so this is the only story I will continue (for now). I will post it on Qoutev, too.

So without further ado, enjoy it

* * *

"Hey, Tikal! It's Amy. You have some time to talk?" Sonic had left her just a few minutes earlier after a very quick goodbye. „Sure, what's up? But just a quick warning, my shift begins in about ten minutes, so that's your deadline." Amy, very happy to hear her friend's voice hoped that she would have some time to spare. „Thanks, you don't know how glad I am that I can talk to you right now. I just can't even…" Tikal cut her rose-pink friend off. „Let me guess, it's about _him_ , right?" Amy blushed and was happy that Tikal wasn't there to see it. „No, it's not, it's about… some other guy." She responded hesitantly. Ikal responded jokingly „Veeery convincing, either you tell me or I won't believe a word about this." Amy sighed. „It's about Sonic. He will spend some time here until his wall is repaired." Now it was Tikal who was happy that her friend couldn't see her surprised expression. "Well, that's some unexpected news. I thought he would stay with Tails?" "That was the plan, but Tails will be on vacation soon and with the current weather report, he is sure that it won't be finished in time. So before he has to move twice he will stay here." Tikal thought for a few seconds about this and left Amy waiting for an answer, who grew more and more nervous with every second.

"Well, what do you expect to hear now? I'm sure he will be nice and if what I heard is true, he won't be much inside anyway." "I know that we've been friends for years now. I just… don't know. He acted like it was never an option to ask me. And when I offered him to stay, you could see an entire war going on inside his head, as if staying here was the worst thing to ever happen." "Oh, now I understand what your problem is! You're scared that he hesitated because he has feelings for you!" Amy blushed even more now and quickly responded. "Wha- nevermind. That is NOT what I thought. Maybe I did something wrong or maybe there's something about my house he doesn't like." Tikal smiled. "And why would it be your problem if he doesn't like something about your house he needs to seek refuge in? Just relax, it will be fine. I have to go inside now and get ready for work, see you soon!" "Bye," Amy replied and hung up.

"I guess I should clean the dishes now," she thought to herself and tried to forget the whole ordeal. In the meantime, Sonic had arrived at Tails' garage, where the small sign on the gate was turned to

-closed-, even though it would normally be opened now. He wondered why his friend hadn't opened his workshop today and knocked on the metal gate, guessing that Tails would be inside. Indeed he was, and the rising gate revealed Tails with a metal mask on. "Hey, what's up?" The fox put up the mask and let him enter. "Just fixing the last things I was given by customers before I leave. Really don't want to leave unfinished work behind." Sonic nodded. "I see, but why close your workshop then?" "Well, it's hard to finish something when people come by and give you even more to do. So I decided to keep it closed until I'm back." Sonic nodded again. "Makes sense. Hey, about this week I wanted to stay here…" Tails had walked to his workbench again and observed an obscure machine. "Yeah?" "Well, I heard that there's a storm warning for next week, so my flat won't be ready for my return until then. But since you'll be gone soon I figured that I should stay somewhere else so I don't have to move twice." Tails put the fragile-looking orb down and pulled the mask back on. "So you're staying with Amy?" Sonic could barely understand his now muffled voice but could make out enough to know what he had said. "Yes, I will. Hope you don't mind." "No, not at all. Kinda helps me focus on my work and packing anyway. Not that you would disturb me, I just work better completely alone." Sonic lifted the boxes he had brought this morning and walked towards the gate again. "Okay, I'll better leave you then, good luck!" "Thanks! Tails replied before he continued tinkering.

Sonic, now back on the street, headed to Amy again to get rid of this first wave of boxes. When he arrived, she was in her garden. "Hey, I got the stuff I had already taken to Tails." "Oh, hi. You're already back. I would like to give you the room next to the bathroom upstairs, you can put everything in there. When the larger furniture arrives just place it inside the garage. Oh, and there's already a small bed in your room so you can put your own to the furniture." Amy hadn't even turned around and just kept working. Sonic didn't mind it too much and just walked past her and went inside. His room was opposite to hers and rather small. Still, large enough for everything he needed. Sonic's own flat wasn't that big itself, and he didn't own that much anyway. The rest of the day was spent carrying boxes and by sunset, he finally placed the last ones in the corner of the room. Just then, Amy called for dinner and he was glad to hear that. Exhausted, he fell on the chair and thanked her for cooking for both of them. "I tell you, carrying all that stuff is not as easy as I expected. Especially when you can't run with all that stuff and have to walk at a normal pace." Amy put their plates on the table. "You know, you could have taken a bus to transport everything. Or ask someone with a car for help." Sonic looked a little annoyed hearing this but Amy continued. "And don't say now that you don't want to ask random people, you have a small fan club with people who would freak out about being able to help you!" After a small pause, he admitted "Fine, you may have been right about that. But at least I got the arm work." Amy just rolled her eyes. "Guys…".

After dinner, both said goodnight and went into their rooms, and soon both were fast asleep. About the same time Tails had also put down his work and decided to go to bed. But whilst many people spend the night in bed, some tend to make it their day. This was the time for a certain echidna to go out on the street, check on some places and people and prepare himself for the next day. This time, he had decided to check on one of his favorite places, at least he told himself that. The more appropriate description would be that he wanted a drink before he would begin to traverse the dark corners and empty places in the city.

Above the small pub hung a neon sign showing a green tilted bottle pouring a red liquid into a yellow glass. He pulled the door open and went straight for the bar. "Ahh, Knuckles! Nice to see you around again!" "Hello Bill, the usual." Bill, the bartender, had known him for a long time. It was the reason Knuckles visited this place. Due to its location, the "Green Bottle" was often visited by rather shady people, and when Bill noticed that some guys used it to distribute drugs, he got in real trouble. Knuckles was just around the corner searching for a thief when he heard the bashing and yelling, so he dashed through the door and beat them up. Since then, Bill was his friend and offered him one free drink per visit.

"Any trouble around recently?" Knuckles spoke calmly, occasionally taking a sip of his drink. "Well, no… I guess. I mean, the usual." The usual – Knuckles wondered why Bill even ran this place. It was certainly not the cleanest and nicest to be, and the people Bill was referring to with the usual problems – that meant that Bill was scared of them, but they didn't seem to give him trouble. Knuckles took another sip. "Are you sure?" Before Bill answered, the door swung open again and three guys entered laughing loudly. They were obviously already drunk, looking for another bar to hit. "Eyyy, bartnender, giph mey a gult scotch!" One of them yelled to Bill and all three retreated to a small table in the back corner. Knuckles stared at Bill and Bill back at Knuckles. He knew that Bill was worried when this happened and when his already shaking hand put the drink for the drunken man on the bar, Knuckles took it, stood up and carried it over for him. "Here, enjoy it." He placed it on the table and turned around to head back to his own place. "Eyy, you te niu asisant here? What bout mey boys?" Knuckles turned around again and faced them once more. He looked at them, somewhere between being disgusted about their behavior and pitty for their pathetic state. He smiled, as he thought himself to sound like Shadow. "What you smeylin at, ass? Brin us thos dinks!" The smile vanished from the echidna's face and he returned to Bill, who had already placed another two glasses for Knuckles on the bar.

Back at their table, Knuckles just held the glasses in front of them. "What you're waiting for, man? Put em down already." This other guy speaking was less drunk than his friend, but that didn't mean anything to Knuckles. To him, they were threads to Bill and he didn't intend to leave before they would.

Hours later they left, leaving barely enough money on the table. However, one of the bills was drenched in alcohol, and so was half the table. Bill shook his head at the sight and although he got less money than he was owed for the drinks, he figured it was not enough to go after them. He was sure that Knuckles would gladly do it, but Bill wasn't too keen on their eventual retaliation. Shortly after this, Knuckles left too, telling Bill to take care. Back on the street Knuckles patrolled the area, but nothing happened. When he finally returned home it was almost morning again, but he didn't mind. He never does.


End file.
